Red Bucket
by SergeantFuzzyBoots
Summary: This is a one-shot based on the information that Lisbon will be discovering feelings for Jane this season and the conversation that WeBuiltThePyramids (Nicole) and I had about what would happen if Lisbon confided her feelings to Cho. Lisbon/Cho friendship and slight spoilers.


**So, whilst discussing the news about Lisbon discovering feelings for Jane, the odd idea of Lisbon confiding in Cho about her feelings came to be, so WeBuiltThePyramids (Nicole) suggested that we each write a one-shot about how that would go and then post them. So, here's my version. I don't actually think Lisbon would go talk to Cho about this sort of thing really, but it's fun to just play around with the idea of "What if she did?"**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Teresa Lisbon could not focus. Or perhaps the problem was that she was focusing on entirely the wrong thing. Her brothers had often said things like that when they were kids and supposed to be helping out around the house, whether it was concentrating on how dizzy they could make themselves instead of doing the dishes, or making a human tower whilst losing complete focus on sweeping. It was kind of a funny excuse, though Lisbon had, of course, never allowed her brothers to win with such an argument, and she certainly wasn't going to let herself off easy with that excuse for not paying attention when she had work to do.

Taking in a deep breath, she trained her eyes back on the scene in front of her. Jane was sitting across a small table from Lorelei, clad in the prison orange jump suit. Lisbon was standing next to Cho whose arms were folded across his chest, the usual expressionless look on his face. All that separated the pairs was the two way glass.

"She's not talking today," Cho said matter-of-factly.

Lisbon sighed. "Does she ever?" In the few weeks that they'd had her, Lorelei had proven difficult to crack. She'd given them bits and pieces so far, yes, but most of her sentences came out cryptic; there was never enough for them to take on any new course of action that they weren't already. It was when thoughts like these arose that Lisbon didn't feel so bad for not giving the interrogation her undivided attention; Lorelei only ever seemed to give out information when Jane questioned her alone with neither Lisbon, Cho, or any other CBI member observing.

And she absolutely hated that.

"Did you want a crack at her?" Lisbon asked, glancing at Cho – maybe she'd be able to focus more if Jane was the one standing next to her, separated from Lorelei by the large glass window.

But Cho shook his head. "No. If she talks to anyone it'll be Jane." So he was aware of that fact, too – well, obviously he would be; he wouldn't be a very good agent if he hadn't picked up on that. Still, Teresa had felt rather alone in her anger over Lorelei only giving answers to Jane ... but maybe she didn't have to be, or at least, she didn't have to be the only one to _know_ about her frustration.

"Cho, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"We are talking."

"Right, I mean," Lisbon shook her head, a little flustered by what she was doing. "I mean, can we talk somewhere private?"

"You mean your office?"

"No, not there. Just – just follow me."

With that, Lisbon hurried down the hall away from Jane and Lorelei, Cho following quickly behind. Where could they go that was private? Her office wouldn't do; people would see them in there, and Lisbon didn't want that. She'd rather that this meeting was unbeknownst to others, especially those who might tell Jane.

Lisbon halted abruptly just as the two became level with the janitor's closet. "In here's good. Come on." She turned the doorknob and then hurried into the closet, quickly shutting the door as soon as Cho had followed her inside. Lisbon looked around the space. It was incredibly cramped with a large supply shelf taking up most of the area; a couple of mops and an upturned bucket took up any additional room that could've been used to stand comfortably in the closet. "There," she said, nodding slightly. "This is good, this is private."

"Not really," Cho commented, arms folded tightly across his chest – Lisbon couldn't figure out if he was doing this because he usually did so or if he was simply trying his best to stand in the confined space without touching anything. "The janitor could walk in at any moment."

Well, that was true enough, but Lisbon wasn't as concerned about whether or not the janitor overheard them. All that mattered was that Jane was kept out of it. Teresa momentarily wondered if Jane was friends with the janitor, but then pushed the thought aside.

Feeling more and more awkward by the second –and more and more that this was a stupid idea – Lisbon sucked in a breath, looking around the room again. She really wished that they could have this conversation in her office; she knew how to handle situations better when she was in there, seated at her desk with one of her agents across from her. Even for something like this, she felt that she would've known how where to start, would've had better words to explain. Maybe Cho was right, having this meeting in the janitor's closet was a silly idea –sure he hadn't actually said that, but Lisbon knew he must be thinking it.

The senior agent cleared her throat. There was no point in mulling that over now. They were here and were wasting time as it was. Her eyes fell on the upturned bucket again and she gestured toward it, glancing over at Cho. She was about to offer it to him, but the look he gave her –a look that clearly stated that there was no way in hell that he was going to sit on that bucket for this conversation – kept her silent. She awkwardly sat down on the bucket.

Lisbon clasped her hands together and stared at them intently, not wanting to meet Cho's gaze. She took in another breath and then started. "You're obviously aware that...Jane slept with Lorelei...in Vegas."

Cho gave a slight nod. "Obviously."

"Right...so what do you think of that?" she asked, finally looking up.

"I haven't really spent time thinking about it, boss."

Lisbon lowered her gaze again, trying not to cringe at the question she'd just asked. Of course he hadn't thought about it, why _would_ he even think about something like that? At this stage of the game, the fact that Jane had slept with Lorelei wasn't of any relevance to the Red John investigation. It didn't really matter to anyone else anymore. Except Lisbon.

"It bothers me." Teresa's eyes widened a fraction as the words escaped her in a rush. She hadn't really planned on what to say – she hadn't even planned on saying anything at all to Cho, truth be told –but still, it felt odd to finally give voice to the feelings she'd been desperately trying to rid herself of.

"Why? You think Lorelei could manipulate him somehow for Red John based on their history?" Cho blinked. "Jane wouldn't let that happen."

He hadn't understood her meaning. Or maybe he suspected what she was feelings and was simply choosing to go the professional route in case he was wrong and was worried about embarrassing her. Lisbon wished she could be like him, just stick to the professional side of things like she always had –mostly. She hated the way this was distracting her from her job, hated how angry it made her. And she hated the fact that, more than everything else she hated the way Lorelei called Jane "lover".

"It's uncomfortable in here," Cho commented, pulling his arms in tighter to his chest.

Lisbon shook her head. "You're right, sorry. We can get out of here, I just wanted to...just wanted to hear your thoughts on..._that_."

Kimball simply nodded and then exited the closet, Lisbon following close behind. It had been a stupid idea to try and confide in Cho, if you could call what she'd done "confiding". She still hadn't said what she really wanted to; no one knew what she was feeling. Maybe it was better that way, anyway; it kept things professional. Even if on the inside she felt like she wanted to explode sometimes when she watched Jane interrogate Lorelei.

She made it half way down the hall before she was stopped.

"Hey, boss?"

Lisbon turned. "Yeah, Cho?"

"I get it." His face remained remarkably expressionless, his voice deadpanned. "I wouldn't worry."

The two agents nodded to each other and then made their way back to their desks.


End file.
